Five Year Anniversary
by justinketch98
Summary: This is just a short 1 shot that takes place 5 years after my "Goodbye Asuna" story. Enjoy :). JK you might actually cry.


**Ok so I haven't written in a long time. (Fans don't kill me please, I beg of you) and I decided that I can no longer just sit back and watch people hound me for chapters. Thanks to the fact that I have more free time now, let's do this thing. So yeah uh this is just kind of a "5 years later" type of thing for "Goodbye Asuna" that I wrote awhile back. (If you didn't read it, go read it then come back to this or it might not make sense.)This won't be long but it's just a concept a fan threw at me and I decided "WHY THE HECK NOT." Here we go.**

The coffee shop was buzzing with activity as patrons chatted, completed work, or waited in line to order. The relatively noisy shop seemed to quiet near a corner booth where a single person sat, typing away on his laptop, trying to finish a project he was working on. He took another sip of his now lukewarm coffee before going back to the task at hand. A few seconds later, a certain brown haired girl sat down across from him, holding two scones in her hands. Kirito didn't even look up, too busy with whatever he was doing to notice the girl.  
"Oi, Kirito," she said exasperated, "I buy you food and you don't even notice me? Meanie." Kirito looked up over his laptop screen and smiled slightly.

"Sorry Rika, I'm just so busy with my coursework right now." He then went back to his work. Rika leaned back and chewed slowly on her scone.

"It figures." she started, "You're the only person I know who's trying to double major in both neuroscience and software engineering. Honestly, why didn't you choose a less stressful course like I did?"

"Aren't you barely passing your classes Rika?" Kirito replied, "Especially since you're majoring in art?"

"Th-th-that's besides the point." Rika sputtered, her face turning red.

"Really?" Kirito said, looking over his screen again, "Because you're probably the only person I know who's failing art." Rika pouted and looked out the window.

"Meanie…." she grumbled. She started looking out the window, admiring the perfect weather that day. "Hey Kirito…"

"Mmm?" Kirito responded.

"It sure is nice today right?" Rika said, still staring out. Kirito stopped and looked out the window. It was a picturesque day with beautiful clear skies and new flowers in bloom. Kirito smiled again.

"Yeah...it is." He glanced down at his watch and noticed the time. "Sorry Rika, I gotta go handle something important."

"What? But I just got here." Rika complained.

"Sorry, but it's really important." Kirito said as he packed up, "I'll see you tonight." With that, Kirito walked out of the front door of the coffee shop. Rika looked at the door as Kirito left.

"What's his deal?" Then she noticed today's date. "Oh…that's why…"

Kirito, on the way to where he was headed, stopped to buy a box of chocolates and red roses. The flower shop owner smiled and asked pleasantly, "Buying for a girlfriend?"

"In a way." Kirito replied as he left the store.

Kirito's motorcycle ride took nearly an hour, but he finally stopped when he was outside a white painted gate. He took off his helmet and stared at the gate, remembering what the place meant to him. He had made it a rule to visit this place, on this particular day, every year. Kirito got off the motorcycle, pushed open the gate, and entered the cemetery that he held dear in his heart. As he walked amongst the tombstones, he began having flashbacks of his past, before he went to college, during SAO and ALO. As he walked, he headed for a particular cherry blossom tree, with a sole tombstone underneath it. Kirito walked up to the tombstone and kneeled down, putting his hand on the name engraved on it; "Asuna Yuki". Kirito laid the chocolate and flowers at the foot of the tombstone and closed his eyes.  
"It's been five years already, Asuna." Kirito whispered. Five years ago, on this day, Kirito lost the love of his life to a disease, wrought by the long term exposure of the NervGear during the SAO incident. "Are you doing well? I'm doing fine myself." Kirito thought back to the oath he swore, weeks after Asuna's death. "I promised myself that I would find a way to make sure that what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else." Upon entering college, Kirito began pursuing not only a career in software engineering, but also in neuroscience, seeking to better understand the effects of VR on the brain and how to counteract the negative ones, by designing better software and systems. Tears began to well up in Kirito's eyes. "I've missed you so much…" He began to sob, "Every day, I think back to that day, wondering what could have been done to make sure you didn't die. I wish I could have done something to prevent it." Kirito was sobbing more and more now. "Each day, I think back to the memories we had, the good times we shared in both SAO and our scarce days in the real world. Each day, I imagine what we could have become." Kirito stopped to wipe the tears from his face. "I miss you Asuna, I really do..." With that, Kirito sat there in silence, weeping as he gazed at the tomb of his beloved. After a while, Kirito got up, still slightly sobbing. "But I'm doing my best now." he said, "To honor your memory and your life, I'm trying to find a way to help others so that no one else has to go through what we went through." Kirito wiped the last of his tears away. "I love you Asuna, in life, in death, you will always be in my heart." With that, Kirito gave a bow to the grave and began to walk away, As he did, a slight breeze blew in, making Kirito turn away from the wind and slightly squint.. When he did, he thought he saw a familiar chestnut haired figure in a white dress, smiling at him from under the tree against the light of the setting sun. Kirito blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, the figure was gone. Kirito turned around and smiled. He didn't need to check or confirm what he saw. He knew what he saw. _"Thank you, Asuna."_ Kirito thought as he walked away.

 **Alright so I did it. Now tell me if this was sad enough. Anyway, see you guys next time.**


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